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No Monday respite for victorious 49ers

By Daniel Brown

Mercury News

Posted:
11/17/2008 08:51:48 PM PST

Updated:
11/18/2008 07:50:35 AM PST

Click photo to enlarge

San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary coaches from the sidelines in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in San Francisco, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008. The 49ers defeated the Rams 35-16. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

That was something of a surprise considering the previous boss, Mike Nolan, gave the players the day off after rare victories — "Win Monday," he called it.

Mike Singletary just calls it Monday.

The new coach wants players together after a game, win or lose. After losses, he wants players to talk to each other about what went wrong. After victories, he wants players to figure out what went right.

Winning, he said, is a bonding opportunity.

"Who else are you going to talk about a win with?" Singletary said. "You can call your mom. You can call your dad. But with your teammates the next day you can talk about it and laugh about it, watch together and grow from it."

There was much to discuss after the 49ers hammered the St. Louis Rams 35-16 at Candlestick Park on Sunday to end a six-game losing streak. Frank Gore ran for 106 yards. Shaun Hill became the first 49ers passer to post a perfect passer rating (158.3) over the course of a half. The defense forced three turnovers.

Under Nolan's old system, such a performance would have allowed the 49ers to stay home Monday. Injured players came in for treatment. And players could work out at the facility if they wanted. But it was voluntary.

Such an arrangement is fairly common in the NFL. Plenty of coaches delight an already giddy victorious locker room by announcing an extra day off.

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Not this time. Singletary required that players report for duty. There was no practice, but the 49ers watched game films and attended meetings with coaches.

And that was fine with quarterback Shaun Hill.

"The great thing about this team is that there are a lot of pros," Hill said. "Either way, guys were coming in on Mondays anyway."

Singletary envisions a culture in which players sit around talking about how to get better, a culture that includes offensive players and defensive players sharing ideas.

He recalled being a linebacker with the Bears in the 1980s. If Chicago was scheduled to face a red-hot offense, he would check in with quarterback Jim McMahon about the offensive game plan. There were times when Singletary requested that McMahon focus on time of possession as a way of keeping the opponent's offense off the field — and thereby giving the Bears defense a break.

McMahon would take that idea to the coordinators, who would make it part of the game plan.

"We were thinking about winning and we weren't even thinking about stats," Singletary said.

The coach said he liked the way the 49ers offense and defense worked in tandem against the Rams. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz, going against his nature, got conservative with his game calling after the 49ers went up 35-3. Hill threw only six passes after halftime and the run-oriented offense helped burn time off the clock.

It doesn't always look so cooperative. More than once this season, television cameras have captured Singletary and Martz in seemingly animated discussion along the sidelines on game days.

"I've got to be very, very honest," Singletary said. "When I look at Mike Martz, I'm very pleased with everything he's doing. There's nothing that's an issue for he and I. We don't ever have an issue where I disagree with him. We continue to have that.

"Normally, we're on the same page. ... Right now, it has just worked."

Safety Mark Roman is back to wearing the radio device on his helmet, taking the duties back from linebacker Patrick Willis. Singletary said it proved too difficult for Willis to get the play calls out to the cornerbacks.

Hill was expected to take fewer shots downfield when he took over for J.T. O'Sullivan. But his yards per attempt of 7.27 is similar to O'Sullivan's 7.63.